Words in an online journal lead to lengthy court case.

Receive the latest local updates in your inbox

Two choice words in her online journal put Avery Doninger at the center of a nationwide debate about free speech online.

The question was whether the then-Burlington high school student had the right to call school administrators "douche bags" while she was off school property.

As it turns out, she doesn't.

A federal appeals court in New York has agreed that Connecticut Lewis B. Mills High School officials acted reasonably and constitutionally when they disciplined Doninger for an Internet posting she wrote off school grounds.

Celebrity Twitpics

The post Doninger made in 2007 was in response to administrators for canceling a popular school activity and the legal case has worked its way through the court system.

The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan sided with Burlington school officials, who punished Doninger by preventing her from serving as class secretary as a senior.

Doninger sued the administrators, alleging violation of free speech and equal protection rights. A lower judge also said school officials were entitled to immunity.